Ohio must properly oversee and train prison guards

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction needs to move quickly to determine what's at the root of repeated lapses by Ohio prison guards as well as their supervisors.

The lapses, which include possible log-rigging and coverups in two separate prisons, came to light after two recent high-profile prisoner deaths.

The most recent report by the state prison system concerns the apparent September suicide of Ariel Castro, the notorious Cleveland kidnapper and rapist who was one month into a 1,000-year sentence. His death followed the August suicide of condemned murderer Billy Slagle, who hung himself at Chillicothe Correctional Institution just days before his execution. The Slagle case was also the subject of a state prison probe.

Both Slagle and Castro were supposed to be checked every 30 minutes, but were not. Supervisors failed to verify that rounds had been made and, as with the Slagle case, Castro's guards are accused of falsifying the prison logs to cover up their failure to monitor the prisoner. They are on paid administrative leave, pending a full investigation.

Such parallel failures at two different prisons suggest systemic problems in Ohio's prisons.

Corrections Director Gary Mohr has promised to accept the latest report's recommendations, among them, the common-sense notion that better supervision is needed.

But the report makes few recommendations about improving mental health services at the reception center. Prison spokeswoman JoEllen Smith defends the system, saying that Castro had several thorough mental health evaluations and "no indication of suicidal behavior." He was put in protective custody because of his notoriety, she says.

To be fair, Castro might be alive if the guards had done their duty. Also to be fair, the report suggests there be an investigation into whether he hung himself accidentally while seeking sexual gratification. The coroner ruled Castro's death a suicide.

However, the state prison report on Castro fails to note that Castro was on suicide watch while he was at Lorain Correctional Facility before his transfer to the Correction Reception Center. Surely, that fact should have made prison officials take the possibility of suicide more seriously and should have kept the guards on their toes.

That it didn't make them more alert offers Mohr another clue about the depth of the work he will have to do to make sure that Ohio's prison system does all it can to identify and protect suicidal prisoners.

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Ohio must properly oversee and train prison guards

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction needs to move quickly to determine what's at the root of repeated lapses by Ohio prison guards as well as their supervisors.